Drew Curtis

Drew Curtis used to spend his mornings surfing the Internet, forwarding offbeat or strange news stories to friends and family. But after awhile, sending out loads of stories to multiple people became tiresome, so Curtis opened his own Web site, where he began posting links. And FARK.com was born. The Web site, which links to a number of popular and off-the-beaten-path news stories, has gained a following since Curtis made it his full-time career in 2002. Now, he is hitting the road on a tour in support of his new book, “It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap as News.” He'll be signing copies in San Antonio on Saturday, June 15. 210SA recently caught up with Curtis.
 

FARK is notorious for replacing profane words with substitutes, which are essentially code words for something more profane. Why screen out the profanity?
The main reason is because it's a little too easy to use those kinds of words for shock value. Rather than saying, ‘that sucks,' the idea is to go into it a little bit more. Tell us why it sucks. It makes it harder and let's people express themselves more.

Do you think that, even in the 21st century, some people are still extremely skeptical of the Internet?
When media buyers go buy space on Web sites, they're doing it on sites they know are legitimate. They take it back to the boss and say they bought from The New York Times. But if they say they bought from FARK, the boss might be like, ‘What the hell is that?' And if the boss doesn't like it, the (media buyer's) job is on the line. It's a lot safer to stay the course, and I don't fault them for that. If it was me doing it, I wouldn't put my job at risk. The New York Times is bankable.

What is your favorite place to browse on the Web, when you're not working?
I like aintitcoolnews.com. It's hard to read because it's so fanboyishÖ, but they have so much enthusiasm for that. I have a passing interest in movies and TV, but these guys are crazy about it. It's a great site.

As someone who monitors the news, if there was any story you could vanquish from this Earth, what would it be?
A couple of months ago, I would have said Anna Nicole Smith without a doubt. But now, it's just gone away because it's not moving anymore. She's dead, so not a lot has changed. Custody is done, and the judge from before isn't involved. But now, I don't understand how any time Jesus' face appears on an overpass or a biscuit or some dog, how there's no end to those kinds of stories. Literally, one week I saw “Jesus face appearing on” stories. I can say without a doubt that the majority of those have nothing to do with Jesus. But it begs the question if everyone in the media knows that it's bullshit. Why does it get coverage? I can't quite figure that out, but I don't want it to go away, because it's one of FARK's running jokes — Jesus taking time out of his busy schedule to focus on this. Why is he wasting time showing up in peeling paint on the walls? Doesn't he have better stuff to do with his time?

What about another story that never goes away — the story that is anything Paris Hilton?
Paris and maybe Britney (Spears) have got somebody working for them that is the absolute master of doing things. One of the things interesting (about Paris) is one of the videos she made that got on the Internet — the porn video — was supposed to have been taped months ago. But in one of the videos, if you listen, you can hear the newscast only two days before the release of the video. But it's interesting that any time Paris Hilton gets dealt a bad hand in life, somebody over there on her team is smart enough to take this and spin it around and generate most publicity.

CLINT HALE | 210SA